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Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini

The S4 Mini can walk, or it can chew gum. It can't do both.

Having spent some time with Samsung's smallest S4 variant over the last two weeks, I've found it to be a bittersweet experience. Opening the box I found a handset that was compact, svelte, and was ready for anything that the world could throw it.

Running Android version 4.2.2, with Samsung's TouchWiz UI on top of the code base, the S4 Mini looks pretty much like every Samsung Galaxy I've reviewed in the last few months. That's all part of Samsung's blanket strategy - have a base model with all the specs, bells, and whistles (in this case the regular Galaxy S4), and then iterate around that base for various niches in the product line.

The clue to the S4 Mini's approach is in the name. Running a slightly slower package of CPU and memory than the parent model, the specs are smaller than the S4, and with a 4.3 inch Super AMOLED qHD screen, it is also mini in size. I still think that 'midi' would be better than 'mini', because mini to me implies a much smaller device (maybe with a 3.7 inch screen), but nevertheless Samsung has pushed the look of the Galaxy S4 into a smaller package that, quite frankly, is a bit of a sexy beast.

While the size of the S4 Mini is part of the appeal - fitting nicely into the hand, not spoiling the lines of a jacket, and not requiring you to stretch your fingers to ridiculous proportions just to hold it - I can't help but be impressed with appealing nature of third-party software that it runs all of the high-end apps and tools almost as well as the larger Android handsets. What is missing are some of the cute toys from the regular S4, such as Air View and Air Gestures, and a number of the smart modes that use sensors around the phone(such as the camera or the accelerometer) to help decide whether to keep scrolling a screen, pause a video, or perform another action.

To be honest these are not huge losses - when I reviewed the regular Galaxy S4 I found these features were implemented in a haphazard way, were not universal, and saved very little time compared to touching the screen. Their omission in the S4 Mini is actually welcome, and is one of the few times where Samsung ditching something from the big handset to make the little handset work is successful.

The S4 Mini is not simply a shrunk down Galaxy 4, there are subtle differences that affect some performance - the slower CPU and reduced RAM footprint see to that and they do constrict some of the more advanced apps you might want to run - the 3D driving game Real Racing being a good example where the apps stutters very slightly and the occasional control input becomes quite sluggish. But games that don't demand so much of the system (such as 'Triple Town') work well within the specs on offer.

During the review period I was able to live with those spluttering moments, because they were restricted to the big crazy third-party apps. Browsing the web with either Samsung's own browser or Google's Chrome offering was smooth and fast; email was picked up in a timely manner, and Samsung's keyboard inputs, both as tap-tap-tap and swype like functionality kept up with all my typing.